In 784 the emperor Kammu relocated the seat of government to Nagaoka, a site to the north of Nara and slightly to the west of present-day Kyōto. This move was an attempt to escape the meddling dominance of the Buddhist clerics in Nara and thus to allow unfettered development of a centralized government. Nagaoka was marred by contention and assassination, however, rendering it an inauspicious location for the capital. Thus, in 794 a site to the east of Nagaoka on a plain sheltered on the west, north, and east by mountains and intersected by ample north-south rivers was ... (100 of 31,525 words)